An Afternoon {excerpt}

This is all baby A’s fault. Look at what you made me do, you insufferable tease! No, I won’t be writing about your favourite character. I’m afraid I’m not as fond of Nao as I am of Shizuru, but not as fond as I am of you of course. So read this, slut! It’s not finished, and it’s all because of you!

. . .

It would be so easy to trivialise the issue of her sexuality like everyone else who didn’t know of her current situation. They would say it was only the natural flow of things, that she would grow out of that supposed phase of preferring women over men. And Shizuru had humoured them, gave them a man who could provide her with children and a fat enough bank account that she would never have to work a day in her life. But what they would say if they actually knew—either she was a very confused individual or that her boyfriend was incompetent in bed. But it was neither. The nitty-gritty of it all was that Shizuru Fujino had a boyfriend, and she was sleeping with woman.

Of course, there was no actual sleeping that occurred on her part. They met each other in the afternoon. How convenient. It ruled out the possibility of the dreaded morning after, and sex in the day made their short trysts all the more casual, like sliding your panties down to take a piss before pulling it back up again. Wash your hands, fix yourself up in the mirror, and simply leave.

Except she never left, at least, not first. She would linger and wait for a confrontation after it all, waited for the equivalent of a morning after that would ultimately never come. She waited for an intermission, as if she wasn’t aware that their purpose had been fulfilled, and that they were at the end the moment Natsuki heaved the last satisfied breath. Natsuki would fold herself away to the side to sleep, or pretend to be sleeping, as though the day was over even before the sun had disappeared.

Why had she gotten herself into this? Simple. It was all of her dreams coming true when Natsuki came closer and closer when she moved against her body and breathed heavily against her ear as they fucked—yes, they fucked and there was no other word for it—creating a temperature between them hotter than the midsummer day. She would always wonder from whom Natsuki had learned those wonderful little tricks that pleased her so. The steadiness of her pace, the firmness of her touch, and the sheer confidence she exuded that was so opposite to her hesitant nature before. She was not one to complain, however, when Natsuki was resolute on thoroughly satiating her. And she would never be too tired to eagerly return the favour to Natsuki, and Natsuki allowed her without constraint. But when it was all over—oh god, it always over too soon—Natsuki would drift out of reach like saying her name would imply; Na-tsu-ki. One tap of the tongue on the teeth, the second syllable an impatient tut merely grazing the roof of the mouth, then a final thrust of air passing through the lips that carried the beautiful name away…